Cutter unit of stapler

ABSTRACT

A cutter unit 10 with a fixed cutter 11 arranged between staple legs and a movable cutter 13 operated from an outer side to an inner side of the staple leg is provided. The cutter unit 10 is arranged slidably between a position advanced into an operation region a movable clincher 5 and a position escaped from the operation region of the movable clincher 5. The cutter unit 10 is advanced to a staple strike out portion to cut the staple leg penetrated through a sheet to be bound, the cutter unit 10 is escaped from the operation region of the movable clincher 5 and thereafter, the staple leg is bent by operating to pivot the movable clincher 5.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a stapler for striking out a stapleformed in a C-shape to a sheet to be bound and folding to bend staplelegs penetrated to a back face side of the sheet to be bound along theback face of the sheet to be bound, particularly relates to a cutterunit of a staple leg for cutting a leg portion of a staple penetrated toa back face side of a sheet to be bound in accordance with a thicknessof the sheet to be bound.

Further, the invention relates to a processing apparatus for processinga cutting chip of a stable leg cut by the cutter unit.

BACKGROUND ART

Normally, in a staple for bundling to bind a plurality of sheets to bebound, there are prepared a number of kinds of staples with differentleg lengths thereof in correspondence with a number of sheets to bebound, and a staple with a leg length in accordance with a thickness ofthe sheets to be bound is charged to a stapler to be used. However, whenthe thickness of the sheets to be bound is frequently changed, a staplein correspondence with a thickness of sheets to be bound is notrecharged one by one at each time and therefore, a staple with a stapleleg length in correspondence with sheets to be bound having a maximumthickness which can be bound by the stapler is charged. Therefore, thesheets to be bound thinner than the maximum thickness are bound by thestapler, a length of staple legs penetrated to a side of a back face ofthe sheets to be bound is prolonged and when the staple leg is bent by aclincher mechanism, there may be brought about a phenomenon in which afront end of the staple leg is penetrated through to the sheets to bebound again to project to a front surface side thereof.

In a stapler or the like installed in a copier or the like for bundlingto bind copied sheets, there is proposed a stapler having a cutter unitfor cutting a front end portion of a staple leg penetrated throughsheets to be bound such that a length of the staple leg projected to aside of a back face of the sheets to be bound becomes substantiallyconstant in order to prevent the staple leg from being projected to afront surface side of the sheets to be bound when the thin sheets to bebound are bound as described above. (For example, JP-B-02-021922.) Thecutter unit is constituted by a movable clincher for bending the stapleleg penetrated to the side of the back face of the sheets to be boundalong the back face of the sheets to be bound and a fixed cutterarranged to be opposed to the movable clincher, a front end portion ofthe staple leg after penetrating the sheets to be bound is cut by amovable cutter edge formed at the movable clincher and a fixed cutteredge of the fixed cutter, and the front end of the staple leg is cutsimultaneously with folding to bend the staple leg by the movableclincher.

Further, there is also proposed a cutter unit provided with a movablecutting member movable in a direction substantially orthogonal to adirection of penetrating a staple leg and formed with a first cutteredge engaged with the staple leg penetrated through the sheets to bebound on a lower side of a movable clincher for engaging the staple legpenetrated through the sheets to be bound for bending the staple legalong the back face of the sheets to be bound, and a fixed cuttingmember for guiding movement of the movable cutting member is formed witha second cutter edge formed at the fixed cutting member for cutting thestaple leg in corporation with the first cutter edge of the movablecutting member. (For example, JP-Y-03-025930.) According to the cutterunit, a front end portion of the staple leg is cut by engaging thestaple leg penetrated through the sheets to be bound with the first andthe second cutter edges formed at the respective movable and fixedcutting members and moving the movable cutting member along the fixedcutting member, thereafter, the stable leg is bent along the back faceof the sheets to be bound by the movable clincher mechanism.

However, according to the mechanism of cutting the staple leg by theabove-described movable clincher, respectives of a pair of the movableclinchers are axially supported and supported to be able to pivot, inorder to cut the staple leg between the movable cutter edge and thefixed cutter edge of two pieces of the movable clinchers, a highdimensional accuracy is requested for setting a clearance amount or thelike between the two cutter edges and therefore, there poses a problemthat accuracies are requested in part dimensions, working, integratingor the like, part cost or product cost is increased, further, there isbrought about an operational hazard of a failure in cutting, a failurein clinching or the like by wear or the like. Further, a direction of aburr formed at an end face of the staple leg after cutting is formed toan outer side of the staple leg and therefore, there is a concern ofbeing injured by being brought into contact with the staple afterbinding the staple.

Further, according to the latter of the background art in which themovable cutting member is provided on the lower side of the movableclincher, and the staple leg is cut between the movable cutting memberand the fixed cutting member by moving the movable cutting member in thedirection substantially orthogonal to the direction of penetrating thestaple leg, the movable clincher and the movable cutting member need tobe arranged on the same plane and therefore, a length of a portion ofthe movable clincher engaged with the staple leg cannot be formed to belarge and therefore, there poses a problem that a shape of clinching thestaple leg cannot be bent in a stable shape. Further, a direction of aburr formed in cutting at a cut end portion of the staple leg is formedin a direction of a side face of the staple and therefore, there is aconcern of being injured by being brought into contact with the stapleafter binding the staple.

Further, according to the stapler having the above-described cutterunit, there may be posed a problem that a cutting chip cut by the cutterunit is scattered at inside of the stapler to be pinched by an operatingmechanism of a drive gear, a link or the like to bring about anoperational hazard, or dropped onto a circuit board for control toshortcircuit to destruct the circuit.

In order to prevent a hazard brought about by scattering the cuttingchip of the staple leg to inside of the stapler, according to thestapler having the cutter unit for cutting a front end portion of thestaple leg, there may be provided a cutting chip processing apparatusfor preventing the cutting chip of the staple leg cut by the cuter unitfrom being scattered and accumulating the cutting chip at apredetermined portion. For example, according to a cutting chipprocessing apparatus of a staple leg described in JP-Y-03-025931, achute is inclinedly arranged at a cutting chip discharging portion ofthe cutter unit, a closing member operated to close a lower end openingportion of the chute by the gravitational force is axially attached tobe formed at the lower end opening portion of the chute.

According to a stapler of an apparatus included type arranged at atransfer path of a sheet at inside of a copier or the like for bindingcopied sheets to be bound, there is a case of binding the sheets to bebound in a horizontal state or a vertical state and therefore, it ispreferable to be able to install the stapler included in the copier orthe like in this way in either of horizontal or vertical direction.However, according to the above-described cutting chip processingapparatus of the staple leg, the chute mounted to the cutting chipdischarging portion of the cutter unit is mounted to a front side of thestapler, further, the lower end opening portion of the chute is closedby the gravitational force operation and therefore, for example, whenthe stapler is installed to direct to the vertical direction to bindsheets to be bound substantially in a vertical state, the cutting chipis not discharged into the chute, further, the lower end opening portionis not opened or closed and therefore, the stapler cannot be installedto direct in a number of directions and the stapler needs to be designednewly.

Patent Reference 1: JP-B-02-021922

Patent Reference 2: JP-Y-03-025930

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to resolve the above-described drawbackand it is a first problem thereof to provide a stapler capable ofproviding a stable clinch shape by a movable clincher and having acutter unit in which there is not a concern of being injured by a burrformed at a front end face of a staple leg after having been cut.

Further, it is a second problem of the invention to provide a staplerhaving a cutting chip processing apparatus of a staple leg capable ofbeing installed in any direction to be able to bind a sheet to be boundin a horizontal state and a vertical state and firmly guiding a cuttingchip to a chip containing portion.

In order to resolve the first problem, a stapler according to theinvention is characterized in a stapler folding to bend a staple leg ofa staple struck out to a sheet to be bound by a striking mechanismportion and penetrated through the sheet to be bound along a back faceof the sheet to be bound by pivoting a pair of movable clinchers from astandby position to an operating position, the stapler is provided witha cutter unit comprising a fixed cutter arranged between a pair of thestaple legs and a pair of movable cutters formed with cutter edgesoperated from outer sides to inner sides of the staple legs relative tothe fixed cutter, the cutter unit is arranged slidably between aposition advanced into an operation region of the movable clincheropposed to a staple strike out portion of the striking mechanism and aposition escaped from the operation region of the movable clincher, thecutter unit is advanced to the operation region of the movable clincherpivoted to the standby position to cut the staple leg penetrated throughthe sheet to be bound, after escaping the cutter unit from the operationregion of the movable clincher, the movable clincher is operated topivot to the operating position to bend the staple leg cut by apredetermined length along the sheet to be bound.

According to the invention, the front end portion of the staple leg iscut by arranging the fixed cutter between the staple legs and operatingthe movable cutter from the outer side to the inner side of the stapleleg and therefore, in a state of binding the staple, a burr formed at acutting face of the staple leg is formed to direct to an inner side ofthe staple leg, that is, to a side of a face of the sheet to be bound,the sheet is bound in a state in which the burr at a front end face ofthe staple leg is brought into close contact with a side of a back faceof the sheet to be bound, even when the hand is brought into contactwith the staple leg, the hand is not brought into contact with the burrand there is not a concern of being injured by the burr produced bycutting the staple leg.

Further, the cutter unit is arranged movably between a position opposedto the staple strike out portion constituting the operation region topivot the movable clincher and a position escaped from the operationregion to pivot the movable clincher, in a state of advancing the cutterunit between the movable clinchers pivoted to the standby positions, thestaple leg penetrated through the sheet to be bound is cut by the cutterunit, after escaping the cutter unit from the operation region of themovable clincher, the staple leg cut by the movable clincher is bent andtherefore, a length of a portion of the movable clincher engaged withthe staple leg can be formed to be large, and an excellent binding shapecan be provided by engaging the movable clincher with a front endportion of the staple leg.

Further, in order to resolve the second problem, a staple leg cuttingchip processing apparatus of a stapler according to the invention ischaracterized in a staple leg cutting chip processing apparatus of astapler comprising a striking mechanism portion for striking out astaple to a sheet to be bound, a clincher mechanism portion supported tobe able to be operated to be proximate to and remote from the strikingmechanism portion for folding to bend a staple leg penetrated throughthe sheet to be bound along a back face of the sheet to be bound, and acutter unit formed at inside of the clincher mechanism portion forcutting the staple leg projected to a side of a back face of the sheetto be bound, wherein the cutter unit is constituted by a fixed cuttermember and a movable cutter pivotably supported by the fixed cuttermember, the cutter unit is provided slidably between a staple strike outposition for striking out the staple from the striking mechanism portionand an escaping position on a rear side of the position, the cutter unitis operated to the escaping position on the rear side after advancing tothe staple strike out position and cutting the staple leg, at theposition, a cutting chip is discharged to a side of a lower face of thecutter unit by way of an opening formed at the cutter unit, and guidedinto a chip containing portion by way of a chute arranged on the side ofthe lower face of the cutter unit.

Further, there may be constructed a constitution in which one end sideof the chute is supported pivotably by a side of a lower face of asupport base slidably supporting the cutter unit, other end side of thechute is arranged in a chip containing portion, and a side of apivotably supporting portion of the chute is moved to an upper side suchthat an inclination angle of the chute is increased by operating topivot the clincher mechanism portion.

According to the invention, the cutting chip of the staple leg isdischarged to the chute formed on the side of the lower face of thecutter unit by way of the opening formed at the cutter unit, guided intothe chip containing portion by way of the chute and is stored in thechip containing portion and therefore, it can be prevented that thecutting chip of the staple leg cut by the cutter unit advances to adrive mechanism or the like or a clearance of a part of the stapler tobring about an operational hazard or the like in the drive mechanism orthe like. Further, the cutter unit for cutting the staple leg isarranged to be able to slide to move between a staple strike outposition and an escaping position on a rear side of the position, thecutting chip is discharged to a side of the lower face of the supportbase by way of openings formed at the cutter unit and the support baseand therefore, even when a stapler main body is installed in ahorizontal direction or a vertical direction to bind the sheet to bebound arranged in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction,the cutting chip can be guided to be discharged into the chip containingportion by way of the chute and the stapler can be included in variouskinds of copiers or the like to bind the sheet to be bound arranged inthe horizontal direction and the vertical direction.

Further, the one end side of the chute is supported pivotably by theside of the lower face of the support base slidably supporting thecutter unit, the other end side of the chute is arranged in the chipcontaining portion, the cutting chip is discharged into the chipcontaining portion by pivoting the chute to thereby increase theinclination angle of the chute by operating to pivot the clinchermechanism portion and therefore, the cutting chip can firmly bedischarged into the chip containing portion and the cutting chip staysin the chute without being scattered into the stapler main body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a stapler having a cutter unit according to afirst exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a stapler the same as that of FIG. 1 in a stateof operating a clincher mechanism portion.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the clincher mechanism portion in a state ofoperating a movable clincher to a standby position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the clincher mechanism portion in astate the same as that of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the clincher mechanism portion in a state ofpivoting the movable clincher to an operating position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the clincher mechanism portion in astate the same as that of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a plane view of a staple leg cutting mechanism in a state ofbeing able to receive the staple leg between a fixed cutter and amovable cutter.

FIG. 8 is a plane view of the staple leg cutting mechanism in a state ofcutting the staple leg by operating to pivot the movable cutter.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the cutter unit advanced to a staple strike outportion.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the cutter unit in a state similar tothat of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the cutter unit operated to an escapingposition from the staple strike out portion.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the cutter unit in a state similar tothat of FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the cutter unit in a state of cutting astaple.

FIG. 14 is a side view of a staple embodying a cutting chip processingapparatus of a staple leg according to a second exemplary embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 15 is a side view of a stapler the same as that of FIG. 14 in astate of operating a clincher mechanism portion.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a clincher mechanism portion in a stateof operating a movable clincher to a standby position.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the clincher mechanism portion in astate of pivoting the movable clincher to an operating position.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a cutter unit in a state of beingarranged at a staple strike out portion.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing the cutter unit in a state ofbeing operated to an escaping position on a rear side.

FIG. 20 is a sectional view of the stapler cut by a face in a verticaldirection along a center line of a chute.

FIG. 21 is a plane view of the cutter unit in a state of cutting astaple leg.

FIG. 22 is a sectional view taken along a line A-A of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a plane view showing the cutter unit in a state of beingoperated to the escaping position on the rear side.

FIG. 24 is a sectional view taken along a line B-B of FIG. 23.

Further, in notations in the drawings, numeral 1 designates a stapler,numeral 3 designates a striking mechanism portion, numeral 4 designatesa clincher mechanism portion, numeral 5 designates a movable clincher,numeral 10 designates a staple leg cutting mechanism (cutter unit),numeral 11 designates a fixed cutter, numeral 13 designates a movablecutter, numeral 14 designates a cutter edge, and numeral 15 designates acutter edge.

Further, numeral 101 designates a stapler, numeral 103 designates astapler striking mechanism portion, numeral 104 designates a clinchermechanism portion, numeral 110 designates a cutter unit, numeral 111designates a fixed cutter member, numeral 114 designates a movablecutter, numeral 116 designates a support base, numeral 120 designates acutting chip processing apparatus, numeral 121 designates an opening,numeral 122 designates an opening, numeral 123 designates a cutting chipcontaining portion, and numeral 124 designates a chute.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

<First Exemplary Embodiment>

FIG. 1 is a stapler embodying a cutter unit according to a firstexemplary embodiment of the invention, inside of a machine frame 2forming an outer contour of the stapler 1 is contained with an electricmotor and a drive mechanism driven to rotate by the electric motor,further, a lower portion of the machine frame 2 is formed with thestriking mechanism portion 3 driven by the drive mechanism for strikingout a staple formed in a C-shape to sheets to be bound. The strikingmechanism portion 3 of the stapler 1 according to the embodiment isconstituted to form a number of staple members in a straight shapeconnected with each other into the staples in the C-shape by formingmeans and striking out the formed staples upwardly to sheets to be boundarranged on an upper side of the striking mechanism portion 3 by strikeout means. Further, an upper portion of the machine frame 2 opposed tothe striking mechanism portion 3 is formed with the clincher mechanismportion 4 for folding to bend the staple leg penetrated to an upper sideof the sheets to be bound along an upper face of the sheets to be bound.

The clincher mechanism portion 4 is supported by the machine frame 2pivotably in directions in which a front end portion thereof isproximate to and remote from the striking mechanism portion 3, and isoperated to pinch the sheets to be bound between the striking mechanismportion 3 and the clincher mechanism portion 4 by operating the clinchermechanism portion 4 in the direction of the striking mechanism portion 3as shown by FIG. 2 after the sheets to be bound are arranged between thestriking mechanism portion 3 and the clincher mechanism portion 4. Asshown by FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the clincher mechanism portion 4 is providedwith a pair of the movable clinchers 5 for engaging with legs of thestaple projected to a side of an upper face of the sheets to be bound bypenetrating the sheets to be bound and bending the staple legs along theupper face of the sheets to be bound pivotably relative to a supportplate 7 respectively by pivoting shafts 6. In a state of pivoting themovable clincher 5 to a standby position as shown by FIG. 3 and FIG. 4,by striking out the staple S from the striking mechanism portion 3 tothe sheets to be bound and driving to pivot the movable clincher 5 fromthe standby position to the operating position centering on the pivotingshafts 6 as shown by FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the staple leg S1 penetratedthrough the sheets to be bound is bent along the upper face of thesheets to be bound to bind the sheets to be bound. Further, afterfinishing to bind the sheets to be bound, the clincher mechanism portion4 is operated again in the direction of being remote from the strikingmechanism portion 3 to be operated to an initial position shown in FIG.1.

The staple S1 struck out from the striking mechanism portion 3 topenetrate the sheets to be bound arranged on the upper side of thestriking mechanism portion 3 is engaged with the movable clincher 5 andbent along the face of the sheets to be bound, whereas a length of thestaple leg S1 formed in the C-shape is a constant length, a number ofsheets be bound is varied and therefore, a projected length of thestaple leg S penetrated to the side of the back face of the sheets to bebound is varied in accordance with a thickness of the sheets to bebound. The clincher mechanism portion 4 is formed with the cutter unit10 for cutting the staple leg S1 penetrated through the sheets to bebound by a pertinent length in order to form an excellent bending stateby the staple S by making the projected length of the staple leg S1penetrated through the sheets to be bound constant.

As shown by FIG. 7, the cutter unit 10 is formed by the fixed cutter 11arranged between the pair of staple legs S1 projected to the side of theupper face of the sheets to be bound by penetrating the sheets to bebound, and a pair of the movable cutters 13 pivotably supportedcentering on the pivoting shafts 12 in a state of being brought intoclose contact with the upper face of the fixed cutter 11, with regard tothe staple leg S1 arranged between the fixed cutter 11 and the movablecutter 13, as shown by FIG. 8, by pivoting the cutter edges 14 of themovable cutters 13 centering on the pivoting shafts 12 of the movablecutters 13 to operate from outer sides of the staple legs in directionsof inner sides thereof, front end portions of the staple legs S1 are cutby a predetermined length between the cutting edges 15 on both sides ofthe fixed cutter 11 and the cutter edges 14 of the movable cutters 13.By cutting the front end portion of the staple leg S1 by operating thecutter edge 14 of the movable cutter 13 from the outer side to the innerside of the staple leg S1 in this way, a direction of a burr formed at acut end face of the staple leg S1 is formed to direct to the inner sideof the staple leg S1, that is, to a side of the sheets to be bound, andthe burr is arranged in a direction of being brought into close contactwith the sheets to be bound in a state of binding the sheets to be boundby the staple S.

The movable clincher 5 of bending the staple leg S1 along the sheets tobe bound is formed at a position opposed to a staple strike out portionfor striking out the staple from the striking mechanism portion 3 of theclincher mechanism portion 4 to the sheets to be bound, further, anoperation region of the movable clincher 5 opposed to the staple strikeout portion of the striking mechanism portion 3 is arranged with thecutter unit 10 constituted by the fixed cutter 11 and the movablecutters 13. A slide plate 19 holding the fixed cutter 11 and the movablecutters 13 of the cutter unit 10 is slidably supported by a base 20,when the fixed cutter 11 and the movable cutters 13 of the cutter unit10 are made to be able to advance to the staple strike out portionconstituting the operation region of the movable clincher 5 from anopening portion 8 (refer to FIG. 6) formed at the support plate 7 whenthe movable clincher 5 is pivoted to the standby position as shown byFIG. 9 and FIG. 10. Further, in operating to pivot the movable clincher5, as shown by FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the cutter unit 10 is escaped fromthe operation region of the movable clincher, thereby, the movableclincher 5 and the cutter unit 10 are prevented from being interferedwith each other.

When the movable clincher 5 is pivoted to the standby position as shownby FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, as shown by FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the respectivecutter edges 14, 15 of the fixed cutter 11 and the movable cutter 13 ofthe cutter unit penetrate the opening portion 8 formed at the supportplate 7 to be projected to a front side, advanced to between the pair ofmovable clinchers 5 pivoted to the standby positions to be arranged tobe opposed to the staple strike out portion, the front end portion ofthe staple leg S1 struck out from the staple strike out portion of thestriking mechanism portion 3 and penetrated through the sheets to bebound is cut by the cutter unit 10, as shown by FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, thecutter unit 10 is operated to escape from between the movable clinchers5, the movable clincher 5 is operated to pivot to fold the staple leg S1cut to the predetermined length along the back face of the sheets to bebound to be operated to bind the sheets to be bound.

Further, in order to prevent the cutting chip cut by the cutter unit 10from advancing to the drive mechanism or the like or a clearance of apart of the stapler to bring about the operational hazard or the like inthe drive mechanism or the like, the cutting chip cut by the fixedcutter 11 and the movable cutter 13 of the cutter unit 10 is made to bedropped onto a chute 17 formed on a side of a lower face of the cutterunit 10 by way of an opening 16 formed on a rear side of the cutter edge15 of the fixed cutter 11 and is guided into a chip case 18 formed at aside face of the machine frame 2 by the chute 17 to be stored into thechip case 18.

The operational state of the embodiment will be explained as follows. Inan initial state, as shown by FIG. 1, the clincher mechanism portion 4is arranged in a state of being operated upward relative to the strikingmechanism portion 3, and a gap is formed between the upper face of thestriking mechanism portion 3 and the lower face of the clinchermechanism portion 4 to be able to insert the sheets to be bound.Further, as shown by FIG. 4, the movable clincher 5 of the clinchermechanism portion 4 is operated to be pivoted to the standby positionand the cutter unit 10 is operated to the escaping position shown inFIG. 11 and FIG. 12.

When the sheets to be bound are arranged between the striking mechanismportion 3 and the clincher mechanism portion 4, as shown by FIG. 2, theclincher mechanism portion 4 is operated in the direction of thestriking mechanism portion 3 and the sheets to be bound are pinchedbetween the clincher mechanism portion 4 and the striking mechanismportion 3. In synchronism therewith, the cutter unit 10 is slided tomove to the front side and the cutter edges 14, 15 of the fixed cutter11 and the movable cutter 13 are arranged at positions opposed to thestable strike out portion of the striking mechanism portion 3 as shownby FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. Thereafter, the staple formed into the C-shape bythe staple strike out mechanism of the striking mechanism portion 3 isstruck to the sheets to be bound pinched between the striking mechanismportion 3 and the clincher mechanism portion 4, and the pair of staplelegs S1 are penetrated through the sheets to be bound and arranged onboth sides of the fixed cutter 11 arranged on the side of the upper faceof the sheets to be bound.

At a time of finishing to strike the staple S by the striking mechanismportion 3, as shown by FIG. 8 and FIG. 13, the pair of movable cutters13 of the cutter unit 10 are operated to pivot centering on the pivotingshafts 12, thereby, the front end portions of the staple legs S1 are cutby the cutter edges 14 of the movable cutters 13 and the cutter edges 15of the fixed cutter 11. The fixed cutter 11 and the movable cutter 13 ofthe cutter unit 10 are arranged at constant positions from the upperface of the sheets to be bound and therefore, the length of the stapleleg after cutting the front end by the fixed cutter 11 and the movablecutter 13 always becomes the constant length. Further, at this occasion,an inner side face on a base side of the staple leg is supported by thecutter edge 15 of the fixed cutter 11, a portion of a front end side ofthe staple leg is moved from the outer side to the inner side by thecutter edge 14 of the movable cutter 13 and therefore, the burr formedat the cutting face of the staple leg is formed to direct to the innerside of the staple leg S1, that is, the side of the sheets to be bound.

After finishing to cut the front end portion of the staple leg S1 by thecutter unit 10, as shown by FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the cutter unit 10 isoperated to escape from the position opposed to the staple strike outportion, that is, the operation region of the movable clincher 5,thereby, the movable clincher 5 is made to be able to be pivoted, asshown by FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the pivoting clincher 5 is operated to pivotcentering on the pivoting shaft 6 and the staple leg cut by thepredetermined length is bent along the upper face of the sheets to boundto thereby finish the series of staple binding operation.

Further, when the cutter unit 10 is arranged at the standby positionshown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the cutting chip of the staple leg cut bythe movable cutter 13 is dropped onto the chute 17 formed on the side ofthe lower face of the cutter unit 10 by way of the opening 16 formed onthe rear side of the fixed cutter and the cutting chip guided by thechute 17 is guided and stored into the chip case 18 formed at the sideface of the machine frame 2.

As described above, the front end of the staple leg S1 is cut such thatthe length of the staple leg S1 after being cut by the cutter unit 10becomes always the constant length and therefore, even when thin sheetsto be bound are bound, the front end of the staple leg S1 is notre-penetrated through the sheets to be bound again to be projected tothe side of the surface and stable binding condition can be maintained.Further, the burr formed by the cutting face of the staple leg S1 isformed to direct to the inner side of the stale leg S1, that is, to theside of the face of the sheets to be bound and therefore, in the staplebinding state, the sheets are bound in a state in which the burr at thefront end face of the staple leg S1 is brought into close contact withthe side of the rear face of the sheets to be bound, even when the handis brought into contact with the staple leg S1 after binding the sheetsby the staple, the hand is not brought contact with the burr and thereis not a concern of being injured by the burr produced by cutting thestaple leg S1.

Further, the cutter unit 10 is arranged to be able to slide to movebetween the position opposed to the staple strike out portionconstituting the operation region to pivot the movable clincher 5 andthe position of escaping from the operation region to pivot the movableclincher 5, the cutter unit 10 is made to advance to between the movableclinchers 5 pivoted to the escaping positions, after cutting the stapleleg, the cutter unit 10 is escaped from between the movable clinchers 5,the cut staple leg is bent by the movable clincher 5 and therefore, thelength of the portion of the movable clincher 5 engaged with the stapleleg S1 can be formed to be large and the stable binding shape can beformed by engaging the movable clincher with the front end portion ofthe staple leg S1.

<Second exemplary embodiment>

FIG. 14 is a side view showing the stapler 101 embodying a staple legcutting chip processing apparatus according to a second exemplaryembodiment of the invention. Inside of a machine frame 102 forming anouter contour of the stapler 101 is contained with an electric motor anda drive mechanism driven to rotate by the electric motor, further, alower portion of the machine frame 102 is formed with the strikingmechanism portion 103 driven by the drive mechanism for striking out astaple formed in a C-shape to sheets to be bound. The striking mechanismportion 103 of the stapler 101 according to the embodiment isconstituted to supply a number of staple members in a straight shapeconnected to each other successively to a staple strike out portion ofthe striking mechanism 103, form the staple member supplied to thestaple strike out portion into the staple in the C-shape by formingmeans and strike out the formed staple upwardly from a lower face sideto an upper face side of the sheets to be bound arranged on an upperside of the striking mechanism portion 103 by strike out means formed atthe staple strike out portion. Further, an upper portion of the machineframe 102 opposed to the striking mechanism portion 103 is formed withthe clincher mechanism portion 104 for folding to bend a staple legpenetrated to a side of an upper face of the sheets to be bound along anupper face of the sheets to be bound.

The clincher mechanism portion 104 is pivotably supported by the machineframe 102, after arranging the sheets to be bound between the strikingmechanism portion 103 and the clincher mechanism portion 104, as shownby FIG. 15, the clincher mechanism portion 104 is operated to pivot in adirection of the striking mechanism portion 103 to be operated to pinchthe sheets to be bound between the striking mechanism portion 103 andthe clincher mechanism portion 104. At the clincher mechanism portion104, as shown by FIG. 16, a pair of movable clinchers 105 engaged withlegs of the staple S penetrating through the sheets to be bound andprojected to the side of the upper face of the sheets to be bound forbending the staple legs S1 along the upper face of the sheets to bebound are provided respectively pivotably by pivoting shafts 106relative to a support plate 107. By operating to pivot the movableclincher 105 from a standby position shown in FIG. 16 to an operatingposition shown in FIG. 17 centering on the pivoting shaft 106, thestaple leg S1 penetrated through the sheets to be bound and projected tothe side of the upper face is bent along the upper face of the sheets tobe bound.

Further, the clincher mechanism portion 104 is formed with the cutterunit 110 for cutting a front end portion of the staple leg S1 such thata length of a portion projected from the sheets to be bound of thestaple leg S1 penetrated through the sheets to be bound is made to be aconstant length. As shown by FIG. 18, the cutter unit 110 is constitutedby the fixed cutter member 111 in a plate-like shape a front end portionof which is formed with a cutter edge 112 arranged between the pair ofstaple legs S1 penetrated through the sheets to be bound and projectedto the side of the upper face of the sheets to be bound, and a pair ofthe movable cutters 114 pivotably supported centering on pivoting shafts113 in a state of being brought into close contact with an upper face ofthe fixed cutter member 111 in the plate-like shape, front ends of thepair of respective movable cutters 114 are formed with cutter edges 115opposed to the cutter edges 112 of the fixed cutter member 111, withregard to the staple leg S1 arranged between the respective cutter edges112, 115, by pivoting the movable cutter 114 centering on the pivotingshafts 113 such that the cutter edge 115 of the movable cutter 114 isoperated to direct from an outer side to an inner side direction of thestaple leg S1, a front end portion of the staple leg S1 is cut by apredetermined length between the cutter edge 115 of the movable cutter114 and the cutter edge 112 of the fixed cutter member 111.

The fixed cutter member 111 in the plate-like shape forming the cutterunit 110 is slidably supported by an upper face of the support base 116formed on a rear side of the support plate 107 supporting the movableclincher 105 and the cutter unit 110 is made to be able to slide to movesuch that portions of the cutter edges 112, 115 can advance from thestriking mechanism portion 103 to a position in correspondence with astaple strike out position for striking out the staple and escape fromthe position to a rear side. As shown by FIG. 16 and FIG. 18, when themovable clincher 105 is pivoted to the standby position, the cutter unit110 is moved to the front side, the cutter edges 112, 115 of the fixedcutter member 111 and the movable cutter 114 are arranged to advancefrom an opening portion 108 formed at the support plate 107 to a staplestrike out portion constituting an operation region to pivot the movableclincher 105, and the front end portion of the staple leg S1 struck outfrom the striking mechanism portion 103 and penetrated through thesheets to be bound is cut by rotating the movable cutter. Further, aftercutting the staple leg S1, the cutter unit 110 is moved to slide to therear side to escape from the operation region of the movable clincher105, thereby, staple binding is carried out by bending the staple leg S1cut by the cutter unit 110 along the rear face of the sheets to be boundwithout interfering the movable clincher 105 with the cutter unit 110.

The stapler 1 is formed with a cutting chip processing apparatus 120 forpreventing a cutting chip of the staple leg S1 produced when the stapleleg S1 is cut by the cutter unit 110 from scattering into the stapler101. As shown by FIG. 20, the cutting chip processing apparatus 120 isconstituted by the opening 121 formed at the fixed cutter member 111 inthe plate-like shape formed with the cutter edge 112 at the front endportion to penetrate from an upper face side to a lower face side of thefixed cutter member 111, the opening 122 formed at the support base 116for slidably supporting the fixed cutter member 111 to penetrate from anupper face side to a lower face side of the support base 116, thecutting chip containing portion 123 formed at the side face of themachine frame 102, and the chute 124 one end side (first end portion) ofwhich is arranged on the lower face side of the support base 116 to becontinuous to the opening 122 formed at the support base 116 and otherend side (second end portion) is arranged at inside of the cutting chipcontaining portion 123.

The opening 121 formed at the fixed cutter member 111 and the opening122 formed at the support base 116 are respectively formed at positionsat which the two openings 121, 122 are matched when the cutter unit 110is made to slide to move to the rear position, when the cutter unit 110is arranged to the position, the cutting chip cut by the cutter unit 110is dropped to discharge to a lower face side of the support base 116 byway of the two openings 121, 122, and discharged to the cutting chipcontaining portion 123 by way of the chute 124 arranged continuously tothe lower face side of the opening 122 of the support base 116. When thecutter unit 110 is made to slide to move to a staple strike out positionon a front side for cutting the staple leg, the two openings 121, 122are arranged at positions shifted from each other, and the cutting chipis contained at inside of the opening 121 formed at the upper face ofthe fixed cutter member 111 or the fixed cutter member 111.

The chute 124 arranged on the lower face of the support base 116 isconstituted by a first chute 125 mounted to the back face of the supportbase 116 to cover a lower face side of the opening 122 formed at thesupport base 116, and a second chute 126 one end side of which ispivotably supported by a portion of a discharge port 125 a of the firstchute 125 and other end side of which is arranged at inside of thecutting chip containing portion 123 formed at the side face of themachine frame 102 of the stapler 101, and the cutting chip is dischargedinto the cutting chip containing portion 123 by making an inclinationangle of the second chute 126 large by pivoting a side of a pivotablysupporting portion 127 of the second chute 126 in an upper direction byoperating the clincher mechanism portion 104 in a direction of beingseparated from the striking mechanism portion 103.

A lower portion of the cutting chip containing portion 123 is formedwith an opening 128 inclined by an angle of substantially 45 degrees fordischarging the cutting chip stored at inside of the cutting chipcontaining portion 123 from inside of the cutting chip containingportion 123, and the opening 128 is mounted with a lid member 129 forclosing the opening 128 at normal times. An inner wall face 123 acontinuous to the opening 128 of the cutting chip containing portion 123is formed by a vertical or horizontal wall face to be able to preventthat when the cutting chip at inside of the cutting chip containingportion 123 is discharged, the cutting chip stays at the inner wall faceof the cutting chip containing portion 123 or an edge portion of theopening 128, the cutting chip is pinched between the lid member 129 andthe edge of the opening, the lid member 129 is not completely closed andthe cutting chip runs out therefrom.

Further, as shown by FIG. 16, a cover 130 is mounted to cover therespective cutter edges 112, 115 of the fixed cutter member 111 and themovable cutter 114 and an upper portion of the opening 121 formed at thefixed cutter member 111, the cutting chip cut by the fixed cutter member111 and the movable cutter 114 is prevented from being scattered to asurrounding and even when the stapler 101 is arranged in a verticaldirection to close a lower end portion of the sheet arranged in thevertical direction, the cutting chip is guided to the opening 121 formedat the fixed cutter member 111 by the cover 130. Further, as shown byFIG. 22, an inclined face 121 a is formed at an edge on a front sideproximate to the cutter edge 112 of the opening 121 formed at the fixedcutter member 121, and by the inclined face 121 a, the cutting chip cutby the cutter edges 112, 115 of the fixed cutter member 111 and themovable cutter 114 is guided into the opening 121 and is guided to thechute 124 by way of the opening 122 formed at the support base 116.

An explanation will be given of operation of the cutting chip processingapparatus 120 of the staple leg according to the second exemplaryembodiment as follows. In an initial state, as shown by FIG. 14, theclincher mechanism portion 104 is arranged in a state of being operatedto an upper side relative to the striking mechanism portion 103, and agap is formed between the upper face of the striking mechanism portion103 and the lower face of the clincher mechanism portion 104 to be ableto insert the sheets to be bound. Further, as shown by FIG. 16, themovable clincher 105 of the clincher mechanism portion 104 is operatedto pivot to the standby position, and as shown by FIG. 19, FIG. 23 andFIG. 24, the cutter unit 110 is operated to slide to the escapingposition on the rear side in a state of opening the cutter edge 115formed at the front end of the movable cutter 114.

When the sheets to be bound are arranged between the striking mechanismportion 103 and the clincher mechanism portion 104, as shown by FIG. 15,the clincher mechanism portion 104 is operated in the direction of thestriking mechanism portion 103 to pinch the sheets to be bound betweenthe clincher mechanism portion 104 and the striking mechanism portion103. In synchronism therewith, as shown by FIG. 18, the cutter unit 110is made to slide to move to the front side, and the respective cutteredges 112, 115 of the fixed cutter member 111 and the movable cutter 114are arranged at positions opposed to the staple strike out portion ofthe striking mechanism portion 103. At the time, the cutter edge 115 ofthe movable cutter 114 stays to be opened, thereafter, the staple Sformed in the C-shape by the striking mechanism portion 103 is struck tothe sheets to be bound pinched between the striking mechanism portion103 and the clincher mechanism portion 104, the pair of staple legs S1are penetrated through the sheets to be bound and arranged on both sidesof the cutter edges 112 formed at the front end portion of the fixedcutter member 111 arranged on the upper face side of the sheets to bebound.

At a time of finishing to strike the staple S by the striking mechanismportion 103, as shown by FIG. 21, the pair of movable cutters 114 of thecutter unit 110 are operated to pivot centering on the pivoting shafts113, thereby, the cutter edges 115 formed at front ends of the pair ofmovable cutters 114 are operated in directions of being proximate toeach other, and front end portions of the staple legs S1 are cut by thecutter edges 115 of the movable cutters 114 and the cutter edges 112 ofthe fixed cutter member 111. In a state in which the cutter edges 112,115 of the cutter unit 110 advance to the staple strike out portion asdescribed above, as shown by FIG. 22, the opening 121 formed at thefixed cutter member 111 and the opening 122 formed at the support base116 are arranged at positions shifted from each other and therefore, thecutting chip is guided by the inclined face 121 a or the like formed atthe front edge of the opening 121 of the fixed cutter member 111 and isguided to inside of the opening 121 formed at the fixed cutter member111.

After finishing to cut the front end portion of the staple leg by thecutter unit 110, the cutter unit 110 is operated to escape to the rearside from the position opposed to the staple strike out portion, thatis, the operation region of the movable clincher 105 as shown by FIG. 19and FIG. 23, thereby, the movable clincher 105 is made to be able to bepivoted, as shown by FIG. 17, the pivoting clincher 105 is operated topivot centering on the pivoting shaft 106, the staple leg cut to thepredetermined length is bent along the upper face of the sheets to bebound to thereby finish the series of staple binding operation. Themovable cutters 114 are operated to pivot centering on the pivotingshafts 113 in directions in which the cutter edges 115 formed at thefront ends are separated from each other after operating the cutter unit110 to the escaping position on the rear side shown in FIG. 19 and FIG.23.

When the cutter unit 110 is operated to slide to the escaping positionon the rear side, as shown by FIG. 24, there is brought about a state inwhich the opening 121 formed at the fixed cutter member 111 and theopening 122 formed at the support base 116 coincide with each other, thecutting chip guided into the opening 121 of the fixed cutter member 111is dropped onto the second chute 126 by way of the opening 122 of thesupport base 116 and by way of the first chute 125 mounted to the lowerface side of the support base 116. In synchronism with operating thecutter unit 110 to the standby position on the rear side, the clinchermechanism portion 104 which has clinched the staple leg S1 is operatedto pivot to the upper side to be separated from the striking mechanismportion 103. By pivoting the clincher mechanism portion 104, thepivotable supporting portion 127 of the second chute 126 is moved to theupper side to pivot to increase the inclination angle of the secondchute 126 and the cutting chip dropped to the second chute 126 isdischarged to inside of the cutting chip containing portion 123.

As described above, the cutting chip cut by the fixed cutter member 111and the movable cutter 114 of the cutter unit 110 is dropped onto thechute 124 formed on the lower face side of the support base 116 by wayof the opening 121 formed on the rear side of the cutter edge 112 of thefixed cutter member 111 and the opening 122 formed at the support base116 slidably supporting the cutter unit 110, the cutting chip is guidedinto the cutting chip containing portion 123 formed at the side face ofthe machine frame 102 by the chute 124 to be stored into the chipcontaining portion 123 and therefore, it can be prevented that thecutting chip of the staple leg cut by the cutter unit 110 advances tothe drive mechanism and the clearance of the operating part of thestapler 101 to bring about the operational hazard of the drive mechanismor the like.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The stapler of the invention is provided with the cutter unit comprisingthe fixed cutter arranged between the staple legs and the pair ofmovable cutters formed with the cutter edges operated from the outerside to the inner side of the staple legs relative to the fixed cutter,the cutter unit is arranged slidably between the position advanced intothe operation region of the movable clincher opposed to the staplestrike out portion of the striking mechanism and the position escapedfrom the operation region of the movable clincher and therefore, thestable clinch shape can be provided by the movable clincher, further,there is not a concern of being injured by the burr formed at the frontface of the staple leg.

Further, the stapler of the invention is constituted such that thecutter unit for cutting the staple leg is arranged slidably between thestaple strike out position and the escaping position on the rear side ofthe position, after arranging the cutter unit at the staple strike outposition to cut the staple leg, the cutter unit is moved to the escapingposition on the rear side and at the position, the cutting chip isdischarged to the rear face side of the cutter unit, the cutting chip isguided to the chip containing portion by the chute and therefore, thestapler can be installed in directions capable of binding the sheets tobe bound arranged in either of the horizontal direction or the verticaldirection, and the cutting chip of the staple leg can firmly be guidedto the chip containing portion.

1. A stapler comprising: a striking mechanism portion; a movableclincher for folding to bend staple legs penetrated through a bundle ofsheets to be bound of a staple struck out from the striking mechanismportion along a back face of the bundle of sheets to be bound by beingpivoted from a standby position to an operating position; and a cutterunit, wherein the cutter unit comprises a fixed cutter and a movablecutter, the cutter unit is arranged slidably between a position advancedinto an operation region of the movable clincher opposed to a staplestrike out portion of the striking mechanism and a position escaped fromthe operation region of the movable clincher, when the movable clincheris pivoted to the standby position, the cutter unit advances to theoperation region of the movable clincher to cut the staple legpenetrated through the sheet to be bound, and after escaping the cutterunit from the operation region of the movable clincher, the movableclincher is pivoted to the operating position to bend the staple leg cutby a predetermined length along the sheet to be bound.
 2. The stapleraccording to claim 1, when the cutter unit advances to the operationregion of the movable clincher, the fixed cutter is positioned betweenthe staple legs penetrated through the sheet to be bound and the movablecutter is operated from an outer side to an inner side of the staplelegs relative to the fixed cutter to cut the staple legs.
 3. The stapleraccording to claim 1, further comprising: an opening formed at thecutter unit; and a chute arranged on a side of a lower side of thecutter unit, wherein a cutting chip of the staple legs is discharged toa side of a lower face of the cutter unit by way of the opening at aposition at which the cutter unit is escaped from the operation regionof the movable clincher and is guided into a chip containing portion byway of the chute.
 4. The stapler according to claim 3, wherein the chutecomprises: a first end portion arranged on the side of the lower face ofthe cutter unit and comprising a pivotably supporting portion forpivotably supporting the chute; and a second end portion arranged in thechip containing portion, wherein the pivotably supporting portion ismoved to an upper side such that an inclination angle of the chute isincreased by operating to pivot the clincher.